Ralph Mulford drove a Mason to victory in a 200 mile race on the 1 mile dirt Columbus Driving Park in Columbus, Ohio. Eddie Rickenbacker made his AAA debut.
Eddie Rickenbacker drove his Duesenberg to victory in the 300 mile inaugural race on the 2 mile dirt Sioux City Speedway in Sioux City, Iowa. It was the first AAA win for Rickenbacker.
Grover Ruckstell drove a Mercer to victory in a 250 mile race on the 2 mile board Pacific Coast Speedway in Tacoma, Washington. The race was marred by the death of "Wild" Billy Carlson and his mechanic Pete Frazer.
Ralph Mulford drove a Hudson to victory in the 150 mile AAA Championship race on the 1.25 mile board Omaha Speedway in Omaha, Nebraska. Dave Lewis drove a Hoskins to victory in a 50 mile race.
Jimmy Murphy won the 250 mile AAA Championship race on the 2 mile board Pacific Coast Speedway in Tacoma, Washington. The race was the final one for the board track.
Pete DePaolo drove a Miller to victory in the 200 mile AAA Championship race on the 1.25 mile board Rockingham Speedway in Salem, New Hampshire. Wade Morton drove an Auburn to victory in a 100 mile Stock Car race.
Kelly Petillo drove to victory in the St. Paul 100 AAA Championship race on the 1 Mile Dirt Oval Minnesota State Fair Speedway in Hamline, Minnesota (Now part of St. Paul, Minnesota). Bill Cummings was second followed by Al Miller, Wilbur Shaw, Deacon Litz and Louis Meyer.
Joie Chitwood’s Hell Drivers thrill show debuted at Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. Chitwood purchased Lucky Teter’s thrill show from his widow, Edna. Lucky died trying to break his own Ramp-to-Ramp record at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in 1942. Joie Chitwood was an established race car driver who was the 1939 and 1940 East Coast AAA Big Car Champion. Chitwood went on to compete in a total of seven Indianapolis 500s finishing as high as 5th place, three times. The ballyhoo promoters of the time touted him as a full blooded Indian and called him Chief Wahoo. With a $20,000 loan, Chitwood bought the Teter assets and put together a team to entertain crowds using the trademark thrills Teter had established – Roll Over, T-Bone Crash, Dive Bomber, and the Ramp-to-Ramp Jump, which ultimately took the life of Teter. For the inaugural show the driving team consisted of Chitwood, Lucky Carl Heffelfinger, Shorty McAndrews, Lou Heller, and Wild Bill Reams. Chitwood turned to longtime friend and race promoter Sam Nunis for the role of announcer. In preparation for the debut, because of the war rations, Chitwood purchased fuel stamps from farmers and bootleggers. No one was seriously hurt at the Williams Grove show but the same could not be said about the cars used in the stunts. Five of the six cars were out of commission after the first show, which meant they had to be repaired and painted for the second show, the next week at Dorney Park Speedway in Allentown.
Walt Ader won the AAA Championship race on the 1 mile dirt Lakewood Speedway in Atlanta, Georgia. The race was called after 77 laps. It was the only Champ Car win for Ader.
Tommy Hinnershitz won the AAA Sprint Car race at the Salem Speedway, Salem, IN.
Spider Webb , driving the Malamud #29, won the 25 lap AAA Eastern Sprint Car race on the 1/2 mile dirt Dover Speedway in Dover, NJ.
Lucky Lux , driving the Liss McDowell #29, won the 15 lap AAA Eastern Sprint Car race on the 1/2 mile dirt Alcyon Speedway in Pitman, NJ.
Walt Faulkner won the Darlington 250 AAA Championship race on the 1.25 Mile Paved Oval Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina. Tony Bettenhausen was second followed by Cecil Green, Bill Mackey and Jack McGrath.
Mike Magill won the URC Sprint Car race at the Tioga Motorsports Park, Owego, NY.
Pat OConnor won the Pee Dee 200 USAC Championship race on the 1.37 Mile Paved Oval Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina. Jack Turner was second followed by Johnny Boyd, George Amick and Pat Flaherty.
George Amick won the USAC Champ Car race on the 1 mile dirt Lakewood Speedway in Atlanta, Georgia.
Paul Goldsmith returned to the NASCAR Grand National circuit in triumphant fashion, driving his Smokey Yunick Ford to victory in the 'Raleigh 250' on the 1 mile paved Raleigh Speedway in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Chuck Arnold won the ARDC Midget race at the Allentown Fairgrounds, Allentown,PA.
Bobby Courtwright won the URC Sprint Car race over Lou Johnson, Eddie Gallione and Bobby Marshman at the Fonda Speedway, Fonda,NY.
Bobby Grim won the IMCA Sprint Car race at the Hawkeye Downs Speedway, Cedar Rapids,IA.
Glen Guthrie and Reds Kagle won the twin 25's Modified Stock Car races at the Alcyon Speedway, in Pitman NJ.
Jud Larson drove to victory in a tragic 100 mile USAC Championship race on the 1 mile dirt Lakewood Speedway in Atlanta, Georgia. Arizonan Art Bisch hit the guardrail and rolled over on lap 37, suffering injuries that would claim his life two days later.
Al Pomponio won the 300-lap, 100-mile Garden State Classic Stock Car race at the Wall Stadium , Belmar, NJ. Pete Frazee finished a close second followed by Bill Pfister, Don Stumpf and Frank DeRosa.
Glen "Fireball" Roberts won the "Firecracker 250" NASCAR Late Model race at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach Florida. ( Click here for the race report. )
Tommy Copp won the 50 lap USAC Midget race at the Mt. Clemens Speedway, Mt. Clemens,MI.
Tommy Elliott won the 200-lap Northeastern Midget Championship race at the Polo Grounds (baseball field) in New York, NY. Johnny Coy was second followed by Jim Whitman, Don Morris and Howie Marotti.
Ernie Derr won the 200-lap IMCA Stock Car race at the Mid-America Fairgrounds in Topeka, KS. Dick Hutcherson was second followed by Len Funk, Ramos Scott and Shorty Eberts.
Sonny Strupp won the Modified Stock Car race at the Victory Speedway, Middletown, NY. Don Jersey was second followed by Carl Van Horn, Otto Harwi, George Horvath, Ken Wismer and Russ Delp.
Hank Henry won the CRA Sprint Car race at the Manzanita Speedway, Phoenix, AZ.
Ed Flemke won the 100-lap Independence Day Classic Stock Car race at the Riverside Park Speedway in Agawam, MA. ( Click here for the race report. )
Al Tasnady and Jackie McLaughlin won the Twin - Twenties Stock Car races at the Flemington Fairgrounds Speedway in Flemington, NJ. ( Click here for the race report. )
Al DeAngelo won the Modified-Sportsman Stock Car race at the Islip Speedway, Islip, Long Island NY. Jim Hendrickson was second followed by Axel Anderson, Harry Hebenstreit, Fred Harbach and Gene Gamache.
Jerry Weld won the Stock Car race over Bud Hunnicutt at the Riverside Stadium, North Kansas City, MO.
Parnelli Jones won the 150-lap NASCAR Late Model Stock Car race at the Balboa Stadium, San Diego, CA.
Parnelli Jones won the 30 lap USAC Sprint Car race over Bud Tingelstad, Elmer George, Len Sutton and Rex Easton at the Salem Speedway, Salem, IN.
David Pearson won the third annual NASCAR Firecracker 250 at the Daytona International Speedway. Fred Lorenzen was second followed by Jack Smith, Marvin Panch, Fireball Roberts, Joe Weatherly, Nelson Stacy, Roscoe Thompson, Larry Frank and Ralph Earnhardt.
"Fireball" Roberts drove Banjo Matthews' Pontiac to victory in the NASCAR Grand National 'Firecracker 250' at Daytona International Speedway. It was Roberts 3rd win of the season, all on the 2.5 mile Daytona tri-oval.
Bud Tinglestad won the 30 lap USAC Sprint Car race at the Salem Speedway, Salem, IN. Don Branson was second followed by Arnie Knepper, Gordon Johncock and Buzz Gregory.
Cale Yarborough drafted past Dick Hutcherson on the final lap, going on to take the Wood Brothers Ford to victory in the NASCAR Grand National 'Firecracker 400' at Daytona International Speedway.
Lennie Waldo won the USAC Sprint Car race at the International Raceway Park (3/8p), Huntington,WV. Lee Kunzman finished second followed by Al Smith, Scratch Daniels and Bill Puterbaugh.
Gary Bettenhausen won the USAC Michigan Twin 200s Indy Car race on the 2 Mile Paved Oval Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan. Bobby Unser was second followed by Johnny Rutherford, Mike Mosley and Jim Malloy. A.J. Foyt won the 200 Mile USAC Stock Car race.
Lee Kunzman won the 40 lap USAC Sprint Car race at the Reading Fairgrounds Speedway, Reading, PA. Gary Bettenhausen finished second followed by Larry Dickson, Greg Weld and Dick Tobias.
Sonny Saunders won the ARDC Midget race over Pancho Carter, Johnny Hubbard, Len Duncan and Johnny Coy at the Grandview Speedway, Bechtelsville,PA.
Kenny Weld won the Super Sprint Car race at the Hagerstown Speedway, Hagerstown,MD.
Mitch Smith won the Super Sprint Car race over Lee Osborne, Lynn Paxton, Herman Wise and Steve Smith at the Susquehanna Speedway, Newberrytown,PA.
Wib Spaulding won the Sprint Car race over Jerry Blundy, Chuck Amati, Bubby Jones and Jerry Miller at the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds, DuQuoin,IL.
Dave Roahrig won the 40 lap USAC Sprint Car race at the Tri-County Speedway (1/3p), Cincinnati,OH. Tom Bigelow finished second followed by Tom Sneva, Darl Harrison and Lee Kunzman.
Dana Carter won the Crown 100 ARDC Midget race over Jim Hettinger, Billy Hughes, Leigh Earnshaw and Jerry Stover at the John F. Kennedy Stadium , Philadelphia,PA.
Kenny Weld won the Super Sprint Car race at the Lincoln Speedway, Hanover, PA.
Garry Gollub won the URC Super Sprint Car race over Bill Wentz Jr, Carl Bergkvist, Leroy Felty and Carl VanHorn at the Bridgeport Speedway, Bridgeport, NJ.
Neil Bonnett won the NASCAR Winston Cup FireCracker 400 over Benny Parsons at the Daytona International Speedway, Daytona, FL.
Sheldon Kinser won the 40 lap USAC Sprint Car race over Chuck Gurney, Mack McClellan, Larry Rice and Johnny Parsons at the Sharon Speedway ,Hartford,OH.
Bobby Rahal scored the first CART victory of his career by winning the inaugural 'Cleveland Grand Prix' on a temporary course at the Burke-Lakefront Airport in Cleveland, Ohio.
Bobby Allison won the NASCAR Winston Cup FireCracker 400 over Bill Elliott at the Daytona International Speedway, Daytona, FL.
Doug Wolfgang won the 100-lap USAC Dirt Championship car (Silver Crown) race at the Flemington Fair Speedway, Flemington, NJ. ( Click here for the race report. )
Brett Hearn won two features and Tom Hager and Randy Bok each won one of the 4 Twenty Five lappers at the Nazareth Raceway, Nazareth, PA. ( Click here for the race report. )
Tom Mayberry won the Small Block Modified Firecracker 50 race at the Penn National Speedway, Grantville, PA. ( Click here for the race report. )
Skeets Gamble won the Sprint Car race at the Selinsgrove Speedway, Selinsgrove, PA. Maynard Yingst was second followed by Randy Wolfe, Lynn Paxton, Jim Nace, George Bischoff, Joe Gravino, Elmer Stooltzfus, Randy Ruth and Glen Zeigler.
ONE DAY
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